Love in Strange Places
by Larania Drake
Summary: Wait a minute- You mean Chi-Chi had a past before she met Goku? Dear Kami, no!
1. Default Chapter

Love in Strange Places

** **

Disclaimer; Dragon Ball Z belongs to someone other than myself, and I make no money from the story here.

Chi-Chi sat outside, doing laundry.

The Cell games were over, by about a week, and she was doing laundry.

Her husband, dear Goku, had died for the second time, and he wasn't coming back.

She was doing laundry.

Her hands were wearing out holes in the sheets; she was slapping them on the lines.

Goku wasn't coming back, and she was doing laundry.

Her nerves were strung tight as harp strings; her breath would hitch ever so often, her eyes were blurring, and she could barely think.

She was doing the laundry.

Her muscles were knotted up, and she was about to explode.

Springing to her feet, she screamed, ripping through her tight throat:

"WHY THE HELL AM I DOING THE DAMNED LAUNDRY?"

Trembling, she couldn't take it anymore. She turned and ran. She had no idea where she was running to- just that she had to run.

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"Did you hear something, Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked, ducking a kick.

Piccolo paused, his sensitive ears having picked up something.

"I think I heard someone yell," he muttered, absently fending off his friend's blows. If they had actually been fighting for their lives, Piccolo knew that he wouldn't have stood a chance against his once pupil, but since the Cell Games, (and Goku's death, he painfully reminded himself,) the fire had just died in his friend's eyes. There was nothing left to fight for, and he only trained as a distraction from his grief. Piccolo didn't think about the times he had held Gohan while he cried his eyes out for his father, yet again.

"Who do you think it was?" 

"I couldn't tell," Piccolo said, and went back to sparring. Yet, he had heard enough of the cry for him to know, something was very wrong.

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It was dark by now, and Chi-Chi was still running. She as rapidly becoming out of breath, exhausted, her lungs burning.

Tripping over something unseen, she landed on her face, and winced as she could feel the warmth of blood there. Her knees were battered from earlier falls, and her dress was in tatters.

The pain was far away, however, as images of her life with Goku ran in streams through her mind, one after another, never stopping, never shutting up.

_I had been a fighter, once,_ echoed her own voice through the haze of pictures. _I knew it could happen. Why does it still hurt so much? Why didn't I tell him I loved him one last time?_

_Why? Why didn't he come back to us?_

# I loved you, Goku, didn't you love me enough- 

She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought. Sobbing even louder, she paused, not caring where she was- until she noticed-

_Gohan doesn't need me- Goku must not have loved me-_

_What is the point anymore?_

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"Mom?" called Gohan, as he entered the darkened house. He had expected a lecture when he got home about being late, and his studies, and the many other things his mother usually lectured him about, all the while being fed until he burst. Instead, she wasn't there.

Something was wrong, he decided. There was the smell of dirty dishes, unwashed floors, and he could see the laundry hadn't been finished. His mother would never let that happen.

Sudden terror raced along his nerves, as several things he had ignored while in the midst of his own pain made themselves known. Her listlessness, the fact that she hadn't given him a serious lecture in days… 

Choking, he ran outside, trying to find her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chi-Chi kept running in the direction- where she _knew _it was. 

An ending.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The sound of shambling steps alerted Piccolo to someone being there. His sensitive ears picked up the noise of the direction, accompanied by heavy breathing, and agonized sobs.

He blinked.

The cliff was in that direction.

To be continued!


	2. 2

Love In Strange Places 2

** **

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z does not belong to me, and I make no money from this series at all.

Chi-Chi raced as fast as her legs would take her, but it wasn't enough to outrun herself.

_Maybe I can finally fly._

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Looking over the cliff gave things a surreal appearance. The moon was half full, bright enough to give a diffuse light over the landscape, making the waters below inky black, with diamond ripples, and the tops of the trees reached towards heaven.

Air seared her lungs, as she panted, her heart pounded in her aching chest. It had been a long time since she had run like that.

She laughed, a little hysterically, at the thought. It didn't really matter how much her chest hurt. In a few minutes, she wouldn't care how much her chest her, wouldn't matter how much she had let her early training slide. In fact, nothing much would matter, at all!

The thought of release from this life was so powerful that she giggled as she walked to the very edge of the sheer slope, and stepped off, without preamble, or warning.

"NO!" shouted a familiar voice, one right above her, one that she didn't want to remember- All she had time to think about was the heady rush of air, how for a second, she had hung there, like she had almost started to fly-

Then a hand was grabbing the back of her dress, almost choking her in its grip, and she screamed in rage, that her end had been denied.

She was pulled into a crushing embrace, against a rock hard body, one that was larger, felt and smelled different from that of her Goku. 

Solid ground was beneath her feet, and she stiffened her legs automatically, her pride not allowing her to collapse and sob.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?" they shouted at each other, one in fear, and the other in unthinking anger.

Then Chi-Chi saw who had caught her.

"Piccolo, what are you doing here? Can't you leave me to die in peace? Or are you going to torment me further?" she yelled, seeing red. She had been so close…

"What? You tried to kill yourself! You should be _thanking_ me for saving you!" screamed back the green man, his hands going to her shoulders to shake her.

"Who asked you?" she roared back, unafraid. "I wanted to die! I wanted out! I can't take this anymore! Gohan has you; he doesn't need me anymore. Goku doesn't need me. He must never have loved me, or he would have come back!"

Piccolo blinked, stepping back from the small woman's ire. It occurred to him that in the midst off all the pain left in the wake of Goku's death, no one had thought about how Chi-Chi was taking it. 

He tried to tell himself that he didn't care, but Chi-Chi's death would devastate Gohan, so did mean something to him.

Still, Chi-Chi wasn't the type to just go off like this without reason.

He extended his senses, taking in her ki sense, and smiled grimly, and opened his eyes.

"Your son needs you," he told her, and the angry, crying woman shook her head in denial.

"He has you. Gohan will get over it."

"I wasn't talking about Gohan. I was talking about the child beneath your heart."

Piccolo said this just in time, because she was about to take another long step off the edge, and he put his hand on her shoulder to restrain her.

She gasped, and whirled to face him, her eyes wide and shining with shock.

"You're just telling me that to keep me from jumping!"

"Woman, if I had wanted to keep you from jumping, I would just have grabbed you and taken you home. You said you had no one who needed you, and I told you that you did. Your new child needs you to be born. Okay?"

She turned back around, but Piccolo didn't think she would jump. Chi-Chi was just staring blankly.

"Why did he have to go, Piccolo? Didn't he love me?"

Piccolo didn't answer. He had no idea what to say. Love was something that he had no understanding of; it was as foreign to him as eating.

Just as suddenly as she had gotten mad, she broke down crying, and buried her face in his chest. Piccolo froze, stiff as a log.

Comforting crazed females was not something he had ever been trained to do, so he just stood there, as she wailed, and remembered something that he had done that seemed to help Gohan-

Awkwardly, he patted her on the head.

Chi-Chi pulled away to stare at him incredulously, and then started to giggle at the pole-axed expression on his face. The giggles increased to full throated chuckles, and then to double over-sides hurting-get hiccups later- laughter.

Piccolo didn't know what was so funny, but decided it was a good time to get her back to her house, because she had just passed out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"MR. PICCOLO!" shouted Gohan, as the green giant flew back towards the house. Gohan had been doing his own searching, and had had no luck. He had the Hiyaa Dragon with him, and they both looked frantic with worry.

"What is it? What happened to Mom, is she all right? Why is she passed out? Why couldn't I sense her? What-"

"Kid, stop with all the questions, already!" Piccolo barked, still rattled by what had happened.

Then he saw the hurt expression on Gohan's face, and sighed.

"She tried to jump off a cliff…" he mumbled, looking away. They were almost at the Son house, and from the state of it, Piccolo figured out that she must have really blown a fuse. There were broken dishes inside, and ripped and worn out laundry outside. 

"MOM TRIED TO KILL HERSELF?" Gohan screamed, and followed the Namek into the house. When he had put Chi-Chi down, Gohan glomped the woman around the waist, and started to cry.

Chi-Chi woke with a soft moan.

"Momma, Momma, I'm sorry, whatever I did, I didn't mean it, please don't kill yourself!" Gohan wailed, his face in her chest. Instinctively her arms went around her son.

"Gohan?" she asked.

"Mom, I love you, don't leave me like Dad," he whispered from his place in her lap, like had done with he was four. Chi-Chi felt a shock go through her heart. He still needed her after all…

"I love you, Gohan," she told him gently, "Its just that your father, his leaving like that- after seeing him die once before, hurt so much, I didn't think I could take it anymore…" her bottom lip trembled, and Gohan suddenly saw his mother in a whole other light. As a human being, not the institution of motherhood she tried to be.

"But what about me? I would miss you."

She stroked her fingers through his short, coarse hair. So much like his father's.

"I didn't think you needed me anymore… You've grown up so much…"

"I'll always need you!" Gohan put his arms around her neck tightly, and squeezed.

"Huh," said Piccolo, in the background, feeling desperately out of place. Reminded of his presence, Chi-Chi looked up at him.

"Is what you were saying true? Am I going to have another child?" she asked him softly, and Gohan looked up at his mentor, his eyes questioning.

Piccolo nodded gravely.

"You must have ah- I don't know how humans reproduce, but- done whatever it was, before the Cell games…" Piccolo said feeling more than awkward. Damn it, why did she have this effect on him?

Chi-Chi looked at him and giggled, while Gohan, despite saving the world, and being all of eleven, snuggled in her lap. 

Quite suddenly she stood up, her hand over her mouth, knocking Gohan off, and running towards the bathroom.

The sound of loud vomiting was heard, and Gohan looked confused.

"I thought Mom being pregnant was good news."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Gohan sighed, and checked on his mother yet again that night. She was sleeping soundly, after having fixed him a quick meal as an apology.

He felt like he should be the one apologizing. 

He looked at the dirty house, the dishes, and realized he should help.

"Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked, looking at his mentor who was meditating in the middle of the room.

"Hmm?"

"Will you help me cook for Mom tomorrow?" he asked quietly, hoping that Piccolo would at least consider it.

He looked at Gohan like he had lost his mind. Maybe he was right.

"There is a saying: if you save someone's life, you are responsible for them," Gohan said, brightening when he didn't receive a cuff on the head.

"So," rumbled his mentor's deep voice. "I am responsible for your mother?"

Gohan nodded repeatedly.

Piccolo sighed. There was some truth to that saying, which was why he was stuck with Gohan as well. It was rather sad.

"All right. I'll help you."

Gohan sighed with relief.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chi-Chi woke to the unexpected smell of cooking eggs, toast, and coffee. This was not what she usually fixed herself for breakfast, an absent part of her noted, and she cringed. Goku-saa would be starving now, she thought. What was she doing lying in bed?

Then the memory of what happened the night before came crashing down. She shuddered, the thought of killing Goku's second child terrified her, and she put her hand on her middle.

"Forgive me, little one. I didn't know," she whispered to her belly. It was then that her nose informed her that the smells she thought were coming from the kitchen were not some strange hysteria induced dream. Someone was really was cooking breakfast; an American style one.

"Mom?" asked Gohan, just inside the door. He was carrying a large tray, filled with food. Behind her, she caught a flash of green, and guessed that for whatever reason, Piccolo was there.

"What is it, Gohan-chan?" she asked softly, trying to keep in her laughter. She had never seen her son cook; he was splattered with unknown substances from head to food, his hair had flour in it, although she had no idea why, and smoke drifted off his clothing. Chi-Chi was afraid to look at the mess her kitchen was in. Still, it was the thought that mattered.

"We made you breakfast, and started working on the chores… You take today off," he told her, in a voice used to talk to a wild beast. Gohan looked like he thought he was walking on eggshells. Considering what she had nearly done yesterday, she couldn't blame him…

"But what will I do then?"

"Uh- read a book?" Gohan said lamely, and Chi-Chi smiled.

"Why don't you help me, and I'll make us a picnic lunch for later?"

"Really?" Gohan answered, his eyes lighting up. He looked thrilled.

She nodded, and Gohan turned to Piccolo.

"Mom- uh-"

"Piccolo can come too," she said, and sighed deeply. Whooping with joy, Gohan ran out of the room, nearly spilling the tray.

"You didn't have to invite me," said the large Namek, softly.

Chi-Chi shrugged. "You saved my life. I owe you something, even though you don't eat."

Getting up, she wrapped a robe around herself, and started to eat. It was the best way she remembered to stop morning sickness. However, she took only a few bites, before standing, and walking over Piccolo. Getting on her tiptoes, she kissed his cheek.

Rocking back on her heels, she smiled, faintly. "That wasn't as bad as I thought. You do whatever it is that you do, and I'm going to do the chores. I hope you come with us on the picnic. Gohan would be very disappointed if you didn't."

She walked out to the room, to bathe.

Piccolo just stood there, with his palm covering his face, where she had brushed it with her lips.

To be continued.


	3. 3

Love In Strange Places 3

** **

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama, not me, and I make no money from this story at all.

Chi-Chi hummed softly to herself as she chopped up vegetables for the meal she was making. What was unusual about it was that she had an audience, and- believe it or not- a student.

/_"Mom, I really do want to help you around the house," said Gohan, after she had washed the strange substances from his hair. He couldn't get them out himself. _

_She had looked at him strangely._

_"I don't want my kitchen to end up in the same mess as it was," she answered, scrubbing with all her strength, then rinsing, for the third time._

_"Oh, that, um, could you teach me how to cook?" _

_This surprised Chi-Chi so much that she face-vaulted._

_"You want me to- what?"_

_"Teach me how to cook. See, if we have peace now, I don't have to spend all my time fighting- and so, it would be nice to learn how to cook."/_

Needless to say, Chi-Chi suspected that this was to keep her from being alone too long, especially when Piccolo suddenly suggested that he wanted to watch her lessons. Of course, the Namek could be wanting a cheap laugh, which was what he was getting from the lessons.

"Now, you add a teaspoon of salt- no, Gohan, that's a cup!" she yelled, stopping in barely in time to keep him from dumping enough salt to jerky the meat in the soup.

Gohan had misread the directions- again.

Behind the house were his previous attempts, and Piccolo was snickering for all he was worth.

"If you can do better, Piccolo, then I would like to see it," said Chi-Chi, defending her son and pupil. Stepping away from the counter, she gestured for the flabbergasted Piccolo to take a turn at the cutting board.

They never did go on their picnic that day. It would have resulted in food poisoning.

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Piccolo read through the cookbook again, grumbling to himself. He was the type of person that never did back down from a challenge, in he had never realized how difficult the art of cooking really was. 

"Mr. Piccolo? You're still awake?" asked a young voice, and Piccolo turned to see Gohan, in his pajamas, hair tousled, rubbing his eyes.

Piccolo grunted, and Gohan grinned hugely.

"You still trying to master Mom's lessons?"

Piccolo didn't answer, but went back to reading the book. Kami, he thought. Who knew there were so many ways to boil eggs?

"I can't believe your mom actually knows all this stuff," he muttered, his eyes never moving from the book.

"Yeah," Gohan sighed, and sat down at the table next to him. He had been shocked at the amount of work his mother did to take care of himself and his father, before he had died. Or the sheer amount of food!

Then Gohan snorted. "I wish I had known earlier; I would have been nicer about things."

Piccolo knew what he meant. They all would have appreciated her better, otherwise.

"Your mother used to be a fighter," Piccolo said absently, picking up another cookbook and thumbing through it. "I guess this is where she uses her training the most."

"No way," Gohan said, startled. All his life his mother had been onto him about fighting, and she had been one herself?

"Why didn't she say anything to me?"

"I don't know, ask her," said Piccolo, irritated. Chi-Chi, while still melodramatic and emotional, was a good, if hard, teacher. She was making them both make her an _edible _breakfast tomorrow morning. Piccolo didn't want to kill her, so he was studying.

"Why hadn't she mentioned it to me?" Gohan blurted, suddenly angry with her.

"Because, I had such a strange life before I met Goku, that I wanted to make sure my children had normal, stable lives," said his mother's voice from the doorway, any both males turned to see her standing there, with a dressing gown wrapped tightly around her.

"…." 

The looks she was getting from Piccolo and Gohan were priceless, she thought, and restrained a giggle. Then she sighed.

"How good where you?" Gohan asked eagerly.

Chi-Chi found herself smiling, happy to tell something he actually wanted to listen to.

"I competed in the world martial arts tournament, and was one of the finalists. Your father beat me, of course," here she sighed again, not out of fondness of memory, but disgust at loosing.

Gohan's eyes widened. She had been that good? But she was a girl!

"Then I ruined the whole thing," added Piccolo. He smirked. He had seen her fight. The woman had been a fire cat. Her temper had served her well then. Too bad she had never trained further…

Piccolo suddenly looked at her sharply, and took in what he saw. She had not aged appreciatively since the tournament. Sure, with all she had gone through, there were some worry lines, but considering that- she might as well be a teenager.

Chi-Chi saw his expression, and frowned. What was he looking at?

"Have you ever considered continuing your training?" asked Piccolo, scratching his chin thoughtfully. He had noticed something was strange about Chi-Chi, and he hated mysteries.

Chi-Chi flushed. "It wouldn't be proper. I'm married, and a mother now. It would hate to throw away what I learned about being a wife…"

"Mom? I don't think anyone would care," Gohan said uncertainly, confused. Why wouldn't she want to learn how to fight?

She shook her head again. "It's a long story- and I'm not sure I want to tell it now. Let's get some sleep, and we can continue in the morning."

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Gohan woke up eagerly, got dressed, and plopped himself down on his mother's bed. He placed his chin on his hands, propped on his elbows, lying on his stomach, staring into his mother's face

It was before sunrise.

Chi-Chi was lying on her back, with her mouth slightly open, breathing heavily but not quite snoring. When she felt the impact on the bed, she snorted slightly, and her eyes cracked open.

"Gohan?" she asked, her voice thick with sleep.

"I'm ready for you to tell me about your training now!" he exclaimed, grinning. Chi-Chi couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm, but her hand then clamped itself over her mouth, as a wave of nausea hit. Getting up, she ran past Piccolo, who was still reading the cookbook, and outside the door, and started to heave her guts out.

"MOM?" asked Gohan, and he pushed her hair out of her face as she heaved dryly. 

"Could you get me some water?"

He nodded, and ran back inside, and Chi-Chi got to her feet. She noted wryly that this was one of the reasons she had put off having more children. Her own mother had a difficult pregnancy, and she had trouble bearing as well. 

The fact that the father wasn't human hadn't helped at all.

She stumbled back in, and sat down at the table.

"Talk," said a deep, rumbling voice, and Chi-Chi looked up to see that she was being stared at by Piccolo.

"It's a long story, do you want me to make breakfast first?" she said, but sighed, when she realized they wouldn't be put off.

"We were the ones going to make breakfast," said Piccolo, flatly. They both jumped up, and carefully reading the directions again, they started to find the ingredients.

"Now, Mom, tell us from the beginning!" Gohan yelled cheerfully over the banging of pots and pans. Chi-Chi winced as she heard something break.

"SORRY!"

"Well, it really begins with an ancestor of mine…"

It really was a long story, one that began with how a man became the first Ox King, and how he wasn't fully human, but one of the people of the Mountain. What this was, she wouldn't say. It was possible she didn't know herself. This went on to her mother, who was an Amazon. This led to them being driven out of their home on Fry Pan Mountain by some evil Oni, and her mother's death, after giving birth to a little brother, who was also killed by the Oni. How she had gone to train. How she had met Goku, and decided he would be the perfect husband. All in all, it was a story that took up the rest of the day, and a good bit of the night.

It left two stunned men sitting at her table.

"You gave up all that to marry Dad?" asked Gohan. "Life must sure be boring for you…"

Chi-Chi nearly doubled over laughing.

"Boring? Gohan-chan, you and your father have been the best thing that ever happened to me, and you keep enough adventure in my life, trust me!"

"Why don't you restart your training?" asked Piccolo.

Chi-Chi stopped laughing as soon as she heard this. 

"I already said it wouldn't be proper-"

"Mom, from what you said, for most of your life you didn't care about what was proper!"

Chi-Chi sighed. She could tell this was a loosing battle.

"All right. But I'm still going to teach you too cook."

Gohan grinned like an idiot. Finally! Something he could do with his mom that didn't involve studying!

"You will also continue with your textbooks, dear…"

Gohan heaved a sigh. He knew something like that would happen…

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Gohan got up at his usual time to train with Piccolo, and stepped out of his room to find a delicious breakfast waiting him. He smiled. Some things would never change. He was happy for it.

Then, he promptly lost his jaw when he saw his mother in a fighting gi. What shocked him was how…natural it looked. Like the dresses she had bee wearing for all his life had been some sort of punishment. Shaking his head to clear it, he watched, with a sudden grin, as Piccolo started taking his mother through some basic moves. She knew the basics, but it had been a long time since she had trained-

She managed to throw him on the first time.

Piccolo looked like he had been hit with a board upside the head. Or rather, he had hit a tree.

Seeing their interaction, a naughty idea formed itself in his mind. The sheer genius of it astounded him. Here was his mother, and his surrogate father. Getting along. It would solve all their problems! His little brother, or sister, he didn't know which it would be, would have a father, he would have Piccolo as part of the family, Mom would have someone who loved her, and Piccolo wouldn't be alone anymore.

Now, all he had to do was figure out how to get them together…

To be continued.


End file.
